Short Fiction · Character

Max Kaplan

Max Kaplan cannot stop thinking about the prisoner who insists the world is his dream, and he keeps pressing Ritchie to admit the clock is running out.

supporting

Also known as Kaplan

First appearance: the beautiful people

As a supporting figure in Short Fiction, Max Kaplan is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Kaplan is deeply disturbed after visiting the condemned prisoner; he drinks heavily and presses Ritchie on the implications of the boy's dream-world theory.

In the storyTraumereiOpen this moment free

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Kaplan is the friend who visited the condemned man's cell and came away shaken, and now he sits with Ritchie near midnight, arguing that a dream's pain is real enough to matter. He draws on his own childhood nightmare—his father's belt in the basement—to make the case that the prisoner will feel the electric chair as surely as if he were strapped into it. His persistence wears at Ritchie's professional calm, and his fear is what turns a legal curiosity into a countdown.

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The fuller portrait of Max Kaplan sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Max Kaplan in the beautiful people

Character Web

6 connections

A slice of how Max Kaplan sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Friendship
Rivalry
Social
Other

Character groups

Household and family figures
Familial and medical roles
Military and minor gentlemen

+1 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Breaking point

This scene is the dramatic climax because it marks the peak of Henry Ritchie’s repressed frustration, erupting…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

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Relationships

Henry Ritchie
friendship · positive
Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their… How this plays out →
Beatty
rivalry · negative
Mrs. Cuberle
social · ambivalent
Henry Ritchie
friendship · positive
Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their… How this plays out →
Beatty
rivalry · negative
Henry Ritchie
friendship · positive
Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their… How this plays out →
Mrs. Cuberle
social · ambivalent
Mrs. Cuberle
social · ambivalent

Henry Ritchie
Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their endeavors.
Beatty
Beatty and Max Kaplan are antagonists, often in conflict or competition with each other.
Mrs. Cuberle
Max Kaplan and Mrs. Cuberle are likely acquaintances, possibly through family or community ties.
Henry Ritchie
Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their endeavors.
Beatty
Beatty and Max Kaplan are antagonists, often in conflict or competition with each other.
Henry Ritchie
Henry Ritchie and Max Kaplan share a close bond, likely as allies or companions in their endeavors.
Mrs. Cuberle
Max Kaplan and Mrs. Cuberle are likely acquaintances, possibly through family or community ties.
Mrs. Cuberle
Max Kaplan and Mrs. Cuberle are likely acquaintances, possibly through family or community ties.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Max Kaplan in the beautiful people

In the story

Max Kaplan appears across 1 companion beat. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Traumerei

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Max Kaplan unlock in the free preview.

See Max Kaplan in the beautiful people

See Max Kaplan in Traumerei